Ford EcoSport : Official Review

This is a discussion on Ford EcoSport : Official Review within Official New Car Reviews, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; Originally Posted by k_ajay
Thanks Sandy. Looks like the cheapest on-road price from all dealers in B'luru.
Elite are just ...

It is normal for dealers to scam on the insurance. When I was getting my car, I was quoted 21K insurance by the showroom. And they knew I desperately wanted delivery the next day, so said the car cannot leave the yard for showroom for delivery as it is illegal to ply a car on the road without insurance. I found a responsive agent of Royal Sundaram got my insurance done overnight for 14K (comprehensive 3rd party) or whereabouts - saved 7 to 8K in the process.

The showroom expects to pocket a cool 5 to 6K typically on premium.

@Sup, You can mail Ford and they might compel the dealer to take your booking, but that wont stop them from skipping your turn and making you wait. Or what you can do is play dirty to match them - tell them you will go for insurance and then last minute show them the finger when they say the car has arrived and to make full payment.

-R

That is exactly what I am going to do.
Also I was not told any of this nonsense about the accessories and extended warranty being compulsory. If that is so, I will see them in court.

Hi Guys,
I am planning to buy a AT Ecosport and thus need to book one. However I did not get to test drive the same but test drove the diesel Titanium+. The things common between the diesel and petrol cars are ok for me but I need to know about the performance of Petrol AT like its pickup, overtaking ability, actual mileage, driveablity and manual override feature. Hence I want to know if anybody got to test drive the AT and give me clarifications regarding the queries mentioned above. thanks in advance.

Ecosport AT is not available for test drive as yet. I have driven new Fiesta AT and it is a joy to drive. Since the power plant and transmission are the same; expect similar performance. Ecosport has S mode - possibly average higher rpm for each gear compared to L mode in Fiesta - lowest gear for a given speed and tiptronic to manually chose gears thus ought to be better in some respect. However I felt that Fiesta handled better particularly with its steering feedback compared to Ecosport that I test drove last week.
I am going to cancel my AT booking due to uncertain and long waiting period.

I too felt the diesel at low RPMs was sluggish to say the least. This is a bit of a problem and especially so on Bangalore roads. However I come from having driven Petrol cars all my life, so I think I might just need to adjust to the diesel style. Though I had gone with the 1.5 Petrol in mind, I was tempted by the Diesel Mileage. So it won me over.

So after I was told to go to Vasanthnagar for the EcoBoost, I promptly put my tail between my legs and drove to the Palace, only to find my tail back up again.

Boy, was I cheesed off by the Metro Ford buggers.

There was one sales representative who seemed to care and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten to drive the car 45 minutes after arriving at the showroom. It was pathetic. But what really got my goat was the o-road price of the EcoBoost Titanium and Titanium (O). 9.86 and 10.33? 8k marked under service charges and something called 'Esst.Pack' for another 4.5k. Additional 3rd & 4th year + road side assistance costs 12k. And the sales-rep went on to say that they will not sell the car if he insurance paper-work isn't carried out through the dealership.

Anyway, enough of the rant. Let's get on with the car.

Well, I got to drive it much longer than the diesel that I'd driven a few days back. And I had the opportunity to wring the 1.0 EcoBoost by its neck for a very brief period, courtesy Bangalore traffic. The brakes were pretty responsive and delivered great feedback. Can't say the same about the steering, unfortunately. It's the same dead unit I find in most cars these days. Very light and good for city traffic, but dead nonetheless.

The torque-delivery was linear. Yes, it takes a little while to get going but once it does, it's shifts alright. It isn't really a shove-in-the-back like sensation, but more of a build-up. Almost like a naturally aspirated mill, but not quite of course. In a way, it's a good thing as the boost won't be an on / off affair and that would prove to be tedious while negotiating traffic in a hurry. When revved to 5k, there is a distinctive thrum from the engine that's filters into the cabin. It's audible and I like it.

The biggest surprise though is the ride quality. It's better than most Fords I've been in and driven. The car also has that sense of 'heaviness' on the road and feels quite planted. High speed ride is pretty decent.

Overall, it's a good drive. I think I can live with the light steering and the average throttle response.

I believe the biggest threat to the EcoBoost could be the EsoSport 1.5 AT itself. The 1.5 AT, IMO, makes a very strong case for itself, on paper. But for now, the EcoBoost is a great little engine, on the face of it.

Suhaas, Although I read all the posts in the the last 15 pages, I do not remember if you test drove the diesel mill. Reports of sluggish behaviour at low rpms in a few earlier posts is bothering me. What has been your experience?

A re-read of the official review of the diesel mill removes my apprehensions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WD-42

IMHO they are definitely not the cars for (Bangalore's) inching city traffic.

I think WD-24's post should be taken with a pinch of salt. It is totally in contrast with what GTO and Parry have mentioned in the review (extract below).

"The EcoSport 1.5L diesel is practical within the city, offering good driveability. Turbo-lag is well controlled. It's no Duster 85, and there is mild lag felt at times, yet the EcoSport diesel displays a tractable nature when driving in traffic. The car moves cleanly and you'll find torque delivery at lower rpms to be adequate. What really helps is the razor-sharp throttle response. Even if you mildly press the accelerator at the idling rpm of 900, the revv needle shoots up instantaneously. Further, at 1,500 rpm where the Duster 110 is gasping for breath, the EcoSport diesel pulls cleanly. Forget downshifting to 1st for speed-breakers, you can get away from 0 kph in 2nd gear itself by slightly delaying the clutch pedal's release! On that note, I must add that 2nd gear is a vital tool for pottering about locally; you can use it for crawling speeds and up all the way to 90 kph. Beyond 1,800 - 2,000 rpm, the motor comes into its own. Power delivery is fairly linear and there's none of that sudden turbo whoosh some enthusiasts enjoy."

Suhaas, Although I read all the posts in the the last 15 pages, I do not remember if you test drove the diesel mill. Reports of sluggish behaviour at low rpms in a few earlier posts is bothering me. What has been your experience?

Vasanth,

I drive a Santro regularly and the torque delivery is very peaky, but it runs out of steam quickly. I also drive a Jazz and it has almost no bottom torque at all. Our Civic has the same problem but it can hold its own once the revs are built up.

I've also driven a diesel Swift and a diesel Ritz extensively, and a friend dropped by today in his almost new Figo diesel so I've driven a few diesels as well.

If I'm honest, it's not as bad as some are making it out to be.

Yes, it does not have that surge you get in old Swifts post 2k RPM (and I'd imagine most people looking to upgrade to the EcoSport diesel would be driving the old Swift - going by the parking lot at Metro Ford) and it isn't quite as punchy as the new Swifts either. But it's reasonable. It dos not have the Figo's bottom end torque, and neither does it have that Swift like punch. It's somewhere in between. But it's not something you can't get used to.

Once you drive it over a period of 4 weeks, you should get accustomed to the engine's torque and power delivery, and one tends to modulate the throttle accordingly in order to extract maximum performance and efficiency.

One thing I've realized while on these test drives is, unless you live with the car, you will not get used to it immediately. In fact, there aren't too many cars that make you feel comfortable straight away. There are very few diesel cars that allow your driving style to settle. It needs a little time an patience. The EcoSport, even more so thanks to its rather poor visibility.

I believe the EcoSport diesel is a good car and is not bad in terms of drivability. It's no Figo and it's certainly no Santro. But The Figo and Santro aren't exactly 'EcoSports' either.

Cool! Whatever helps you sleep at night. That's just like my opinion and experience. I strongly recommend you drive and feel it for yourself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

" you can get away from 0 kph in 2nd gear itself by slightly delaying the clutch pedal's release! "

Note the bit which says slightly delaying the clutch pedal's release!. Yeah I'm not a fan of half clutching/clutch riding/slowly releasing/delayed releasing because that's all you'll be doing in BLR traffic.

I think it has been a hectic couple of days ! Every other member went to the Ford showroom. The guys at the showroom looked so happy that day. The deserted Ford showrooms were filled up to brim.
Went to the showroom, only to be disappointed. No TD cars ! The executive said, it will take atleast 3-4 days, for all the RTO work. What a shame! For me, the plastics aren't up-to mark. Although the doors have nice heavy feel, the handles (the inside ones) were ill fitted. The passenger side seat felt a small, is case same with driver seat?

All those who are looking to TD the Eco boost version in Bangalore, if possible drive down to Cauvery Ford near binny mill. They have both Eco boost and Tdci for TDs and if you go at odd times (before 11am on weekdays) you may even get to do a back to back TD to help clear all confusion on which drives better.

I've been following the progress of the Ecosport's slow march to reality since the last many months. After pre-booking it 2 weeks back, I literally shed tears of joy as the pricing was announced. I confirmed my booking with the Sea Grey Titanium Ecoboost that very evening, after a pleasant test drive on the diesel titanium TD vehicle.
Just wanted to share my experience with the dealer - Planet Ford, Bibvewadi, Pune:
Sales team was warm... not gushingly so, but pleasantly enough. We could sense their own excitement at having this car to sell!
TD took 20 minutes to come to turn, but the dealer person accompanying us guided me on a longer route on one of Pune's many hills, which was greatly welcome, as I could test both body roll and power (especially with 4 seated at the back)! Came back impressed!
On road Pune price for the EBoost Titanium was coming to Rs.9.19, inclusive of Rs.5500 accessory pack, 25K for insurance and an additional 3rd year warranty. The dealer said he preferred us feeding insurance from them, but that I could get my own if desired. The accessory pack was also optional as was the additional warranty. This was a pleasant, positive surprise compared to the fleecing I read through these blogs. Even the insurance pricing seemed believable, although I so intend to take it separately from my trusted Tata AiG.
Delivery period was vaguely mentioned as 2 months, but the sales manager said that he could probably get it earlier... which he can only confirm after this initial exhuberence period. .. namely, after Monday.
I negotiated on the basic accessory pack and said i wanted that price waived off. He said he'd look into it, but could not promise anything. (I told him I was a TeamBhp-ian, and he was also, so he was aware of how aware I was on dealer margins). I think I'll manage that discount in the end!
Will take an EBoost TD once they procure the vehicle.

My first post in Team-BHP. I pre-booked my ES (Titanium D) on 22nd June 2013 at Harpreet Ford, Moti Nagar Delhi. The pricing from Ford is very intelligent and is surely giving the Hyundai's, VW's and Honda's an individual headache. I do feel bad for Honda specifically as this period was supposed to be their honeymoon. Two of my known people are cancelling their Amaze(s) for Ecosport.

I am coming from Polo Diesel and my wife currently drives a Figo (D). I managed to sell my Polo just in time for ES. Having driven Figo quiet a bit, ES seemed very close during the TD. I do strongly feel that the Diesel is much more at home in city conditions compared to the Ecoboost due to its early torque delivery. Coming from a hatch my preference is the Diesel.

Also the roof grab handles are a necessity for my dad and mom (more so in a tallish car)- so while the Titanium (O) is a VFM, its a no-go as far as I am concerned. I am also surprised to see that the grab handles haven't been given the importance in the discussion here.